. >> with upcoming hearings for chuck hagel and john brennan, the current focus on foreign policy is likely to continue, although the question still lingers, what is the obama doctrine, or more to the point, is there an obama doctrine? according to the economist the president's main goal is to avoid costly international enfanglements as he prioritizes concerns. it is a tricky endeavor given the state of the world. in addition to the crisis in syria and the nuclear standoff between israel and iran, there are new protests in egypt where nearly 60 people have died and in mali the u.s. has been assisting french and african forces to push back al qaeda linked militants in the northern half of the country. for now officials say they envision flying only unarmed surveillance drones from the base, though they have not ruled out conducting missile strikes at some point if the threat worsens. joining now from cairo is nbc news foreign correspondent amman mojadine. >> we talk about the obama doctrine and the difficulties in articulating a broad set of foreign policy goals. that is infinitely co